Off the topic of energy for a moment I would like to talk about Sustainability. All of the energy forms that I have talked about are promising, because they offer sustainable solutions for energy. Sustainability is a concept of meeting the needs of individuals, businesses and governments without depleting the earth’s resources, more than they can be replenished. Its focus is the long-term. It is the idea to operate in an efficient manner and to use/reuse/replenish resources, making them for the survival of future generations. Paul Hawken said, “To look at the world with heart and recognize all of it’s parts as inseparably complex.” We are ignorant to the fact that our actions have effects on the environment or society. Simply by eating a banana in the morning, you have contributed to polluting the water and topsoil in Ecuador, as well as exposing workers to highly dangerous chemicals and low wages (approx. 80 cents an hour). But don’t get down on yourself just yet, I am going to provide you with 9 simply steps that will improve your impact on the world, helping us to become more sustainable. These steps are a part of a movement called Turn the Tide that an organization called New American Dream put together.
1. Skip one car trip each week. Combine errands, ride a bike or walk, by cutting out 20 miles of driving you’ll save 1000 lbs of CO2
2. Eat one less beef meal a week. If a 1000 of us did this we would save 70,000 lbs of grain, 70,000 lbs of topsoil and 40 million gallons of water.
3. Shift your shrimp consumption. For every 1000 of us 12,000 lbs of sea life. (Why? Shrimp boats scrap the bottom of the ocean floor collecting shrimp. What about farmed shrimp? Shrimp farms destroy mangroves and chemicals are used, which pollute local ground water.)
4. Stop receiving Junk Mail. Simply go online and get your name off the lists. For every 1000 of us that do this we will save 170 trees, 46,000 lbs of CO2 and 70,000 gallons of water
5. Replace four standard light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. This will save you $100 dollars over the life of the light bulbs and nearly 5,000 lbs of CO2.
6. Move the thermostat 3F up in the summer and down in the winter. This will save 1,100 lbs of CO2.
7. Eliminate lawn and garden pesticides. Every year Americans apply 70 million pounds of pesticides on their lawn polluting the environment and killing wildlife.
8. Install an efficient showerhead and low flow aerator faucets. For every thousand of us this will save 8 million gallons of water and 450,000 lbs of CO2.
9. INSPIRE TO FRIENDS

Just take one minute out of your day and consider your impacts. Where was the computer you’re presently sitting at manufactured? Where did its parts come from? What resources were used to make these parts? Where will it go when you are done with it? Computers end up in Chinese villages, where every scrap of metal is salvaged. The acid needed to strip the tiny pieces of copper and so forth is extremely toxic.